(4)
That day, the sky was clear and cloudless. The sunlight could shine through the trees and reflect on the snow. It would dazzle your eyes as you passed by.
Everyone was fully armed and frightened every step of the way. The archers were in front to explore the way, the swordsmen and axemen were in the rear to provide support, and Bai Feng and his party were in the center with the town officials.
This formation is compact and orderly. They do not use as much manpower as possible to track down the "murderer". It is not like hunting a bear at all. Instead, they are more like turtles in a urn, looking around and guarding against something.
"Sir, the body is right in front!" Several archers quickly expanded their formation around the murder site, occupying a high point and confirming that the surroundings were clear before allowing everyone to move forward.
"Uh! What's the smell?" Ayu's nose seemed to be particularly sensitive. After speaking, everyone immediately covered their mouths and noses with him and slowed down their pace.
The smell is getting more and more pungent. Although it is covered by ice and snow, the smell of decay is still spreading. He walked a few steps along the blood trail and came to a tree. The corpse sat down weakly against the tree, its limbs were spread outward, and all its internal organs were taken out. Some only half of the intestines, liver, gallbladder, and kidneys were left, and some were thrown on the ground casually.
Bile flowed to the ground and formed a thin layer of frost, and from the incision of the remaining intestines and stomach, you could see that there were still some food residues inside. You may not notice it if you are far away, but once you get close, you can smell a very obvious smell of decay.
The corpse had a horrifying expression, and tears could be faintly seen in the corners of the eyes. Except for the huge wound in front of the chest, there were no obvious injuries elsewhere.
"It's a man. He seems to have been dead for at least two days." Fu Wentao judged based on his intuition.
Yu Ke suppressed his disgust and glanced at it, asking, "What is this?"
"Dead man, disemboweled." Bai Feng covered his mouth and nose and walked straight away, took a lot of blood, and searched along the blood stains: "Yes, are these the footprints of the 'Giant Bear'?"
The young swordsman squatted on the ground and searched carefully, and said: "There has been no heavy snow in the past few days, but these footprints are too clear, right? It's like they were left here intentionally..."
"Oh?" The town official took a look and continued, "Keep talking."
"There is another place here. Please take a look, sir." Bai Feng returned to the corpse and said, "Please forgive me for being ignorant. I have never heard of giant bears eating humans. They only eat 'viscera' and have no interest in the rest of the body." ?Look, apart from being stained with blood, the limbs are not damaged at all?"
The town official said: "Then, what does General Bai Feng think is going on?"
"I still insist on my original point of view. There is no such thing as a man-eating giant bear. The footprints are forged, and the disembowelment was done to conceal the real cause of death!" Bai Feng turned around and asked Yu Ke, "Ake, do you remember that day when you followed me? Did you say that those three hunters originally wanted to take you somewhere else?"
Yu Ke said: "Well! They said, 'How about taking those two women back'."
"Yes." Bai Feng continued: "There are more than three of them."
The town official nodded in approval: "Actually, General Bai Feng and I have the same views. At first, we didn't believe it was done by bad guys, until one day, the wife of a famous officer under my command was unfortunately kidnapped, and he stayed overnight Come to me and say that you know the truth behind the 'Man-Eating Bear'."
As soon as he finished speaking, a young man came over with a knife, raised his hand and said in respect: "Young man Liu Mo, I have seen General Bai Feng!"
"My wife, Lihua, used to go to the mountains to collect wild vegetables and herbs to help support the family. Until she suddenly disappeared for several days, everyone thought she was eaten by a 'mountain giant bear'..." Liu Mo rubbed his hands, palms of his hands. Breathing lightly, he was dressed in the thinnest clothes compared to other colleagues, and his figure was also slimmer, with protruding cheekbones and sunken temples, which made his eyes look particularly big.
"I didn't accept my fate. I thought that if you were alive, you would see people, and if you were dead, you would see corpses. I couldn't just leave Lihua alone!" He continued: "So, I started to search everywhere on the mountain, and I searched every corner! Finally, I waited for some clues - I saw with my own eyes the Orion brothers walking from home to the mountain, and then suddenly disappeared! I followed, followed, all the way to the end! Looking through the gap in the mountain cape, there, There is actually a camp?”
Bai Feng asked: "Could it be that the bandits did it?"
"No, it's not a bandit!" Liu Mo suddenly became excited: "That's not a camp, that's a fortress! They are all soldiers, and only veterans who have fought bloody battles on the front line can build such a fortress! Because, I don't know how to build such a fortress. There is no chance to sneak in..."
Bai Feng slightly expressed his sympathy and asked the town official: "May I ask, sir, since you know you are a traitor, why don't you ask the court for help?"
"The court believes that this is all based on speculation." The town official sighed repeatedly: "I guess these are the rebellious soldiers under some general. They shirk responsibility from each other in the court, and no one wants to admit their fault. As a result, this The thieves blocking the road no longer exist."
Liu Mo echoed, saying: "Since it doesn't exist, there's no need to worry about it. After all, it's a 'big bear problem'. If we don't handle it properly, we are derelict in our duties. If we still haven't eradicated that group of thieves in half a year, Lin The adults will also be forced to resign and return to their hometowns, and then no one will really care about them."
As soon as he finished speaking, the town official walked to Bai Feng, knelt down generously, and begged: "I am Lin Qi, General Bai Feng, please save the people here!"
"Haha, what on earth are you talking about?" Bai Feng sneered: "I am no longer a general. I am just a swordsman wandering around the world. I use my swordsmanship to make some money for food. It is natural."
Lin Qi said happily: "In your opinion, Bai Shaoxia agrees?"
"Let's take care of the bodies first, just like we did before when dealing with the 'Giant Bear Troubles'. Then we'll start planning from scratch." Bai Feng gave the order, but when no one responded, he looked back at the town official Lin Qi, Said: "I should have gotten rid of the stigma of 'murderer' now, right?"
Lin Qi said belatedly: "Yes, what Bai Shaoxia said is right! From now on, the orders given by Bai Shaoxia will be the same as the orders given by this officer. Liu Mo, you are responsible for assisting Bai Shaoxia."
"Bai Shaoxia, if you need anything, just ask. Although the town is small, we will try our best to do it!" Liu Mo looked at Bai Feng with tears in his eyes, as if he saw the savior.
Then, all the servants followed Bai Feng's instructions and began to collect the bodies of the deceased. Everything was as usual. In the eyes of others, they still did not take any precautions, and were still preparing to place baits and traps everywhere like dealing with giant bears, but others would never understand what the arrival of the young swordsman meant.
Liu Mo knew: "This is the hero who once formed a rebel army to fight against the Rouran invaders!"
Even an unknown general is more reliable than the famous generals far away. This was not a forced choice, but after spending many days with Bai Feng, everyone including Liu Mo and the town official Lin Qi felt that the change was finally coming.
